Politics at Criterion

Created 09/04/12

One of the best things about Criterion is the wide range of types of films and themes expressed in their vast collection, and many of them deal with strong political points, some even opposing. And we're here to celebrate them today. Besides, it's an election year so the timing seems about right.

The tragic yet inspiring documentary of an amazing man, and the first openly gay politician. This documentary is beautiful and moving and features some great interviews with those close to Harvey. The Gus van Sant film with Sean Penn is pretty good

Alex Cox's first wild view of 80s American politics as an outsider look in with a sharp wit. One of the original endings included Otto joining the Sandinista revolution but even he found that too heavy handed

Politically, they're pretty left of left, certainly socially. The themes explored in the films above include anti-imperialism, which, Guevara stated, is "the last stage of capitalism — and it must be defeated," paganism (Dems called for a vote three times before ruling to change their 2012 convention platform to add a mention of God), pro-labour (The Organizer premiered at the 35th Congress of the Italian Socialist Party), and you've left out Paul Robeson! Plus there are plenty of other political subtleties to discover.

You, sir, are now Criterion's king of lists (unofficially). A solicited recommendation that I just left user WillML made me think of this particular one and how Fellini's depiction of rising Fascism in 1930's Italy may merit Amarcord's inclusion herein. Keep up the good work!

Z, The Battle of Algiers, and Paths of Glory are personally to me the most powerfully political films on your list (not that the others don't fit on this list). I'm not saying you should add this to your already triumphant list, but "La Haine" could also fall into the the politics category also. Great list Drew!

Great list! I'm very late to the party on this, but there are several excellent Japanese films that could be included on here. For starters:
Black River (Kobayashi)
Night and Fog in Japan (Oshima)
Pitfall (Teshigahara)
Three Resurrected Drunkards (Oshima)
Patriotism (Mishima & Domoto)
Of course, there are more, but this is a pretty good place to begin.